


Grounding

by Remembered



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel/Dean Winchester Mutual Pining, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 11:32:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13680825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Remembered/pseuds/Remembered
Summary: Dean wants Cas to enjoy the simple things in life. He tries to put those feelings out there one of the only ways he knows how.





	Grounding

Dean has always loved the simple things in life. A cold beer, the wind whipping through Baby’s front window, swapping Sammy’s toothpaste for mayo. Simple pleasures. When you scrap with evil as much as he and Sammy do you earn the right to take extra joy in the ultra satisfying crunch of perfectly cooked bacon. So it goes with no surprise that he tries his best to get Cas to enjoy these things too...with varying levels of success. 

“Dean, what are you doing?” Dean nearly jumps at the unexpected sound of Cas’ voice coming from behind him. Instead he sinks his toes deeper into the cold earth to stabilize himself before turning his head to watch as Cas slowly makes his way toward Dean. 

“Enjoying the moment.” Dean taps his fingers against the condensation slick neck of his beer bottle, relishing in the feel of the chilled glass in his hand. The late August heat is heavy in the air but the earth beneath his feet is still cool and damp and having this connection between his skin and the dirt settles something inside his soul. It’s...grounding. He wants to give that to Cas. “Take your shoes off.” 

“Why.” Cas shoots back, but he is already toeing off his loafers. 

“Socks too.” Dean says in response. Cas complies and is soon standing close enough that Dean can feel the extra layer of warmth radiating off his skin. Cas looks him in the eye and Dean is pulled under, unable to think until he sees Cas’ eyebrow quirk up in question. Dean gestures down to his toes and wiggles them into the dirt in response. 

Dean is ready for Cas to tilt his head to the side questioningly, ready to explain the novelty of this human sensation. But instead Cas closes his eyes, breathes in deep, and wiggles his toes into the dirt. A slow smile spreads out across Castiel’s face and for a moment Dean is struck dumb by all that Cas is--celestial and corporeal and wild and here and his--

Not his. 

Not yet.

And then Cas opens his eyes and sighs gently before turning that gaze back on Dean and Dean is so, so gone. 

“This is lovely.” Cas grins sheepishly before ducking his head and looking back down at his feet. Dean is immediately brought to a moment where Cas declared food to taste only of molecules. But somehow here he is, feet in the dirt, smiling, feeling, enjoying. Dean hasn’t been sure of how Cas felt about living in this liminal space--human or angel or something else entirely--but Dean has always been selfishly grateful for these small moments of human enjoyment. Grateful and greedy, always wanting Cas for longer and with more. 

“What’s the name of this song?” Cas asks. 

Dean blinks to clear the moment from his eyes. 

“Song?” 

They’re in the middle of nowhere. Not nowhere, exactly, but in a forest tracking the monster of the moment might as well be nowhere, so Dean had set up a thrift store tape player and it’s got a mixtape running and filling the still air with music. 

“This? This is Lynyrd Skynyrd.” Unsurprisingly, the name does not create a reaction. “Oh man, Simple Man? Great song.” 

Dean walks over and presses a few buttons, rewinding the tape to start the song again. He overshoots it a bit and catches the end of a Led Zepplin song, but it just gives him time to get back to Cas’ side. Dean takes another long drink from his beer as the opening chords play and casts a glance over to see Cas with his head tilted down, looking as his wiggling toes, a soft grin across his face and a...blush? Yeah. Light pink right across the bridge of his nose. 

Dean matches Cas motion for motion. Head tilted down, toes in the dirt, blush, and smile.

Grounding. 

\---

Dean holds that moment close, puts it in a collection of moments across years. Dean clings to them through miles of driving, hours of fighting, nights of drinking. He takes them all and puts them to lyrics--adding his own joys and thoughts and prickly parts--until he finds himself sliding a cassette across the war table to Cas. It’s two am, Sam’s asleep, and Dean hasn’t spoken in a few hours. Cas is reading quietly across from him and between one page turn and the next Dean’s got all those moments out on the table. He expects Cas to question, has his answer ready, but once Cas meets his eyes he just knows and smiles and then the tape is gone, tucked safely into a pocket. 

“Thank you, Dean.” 

Another blush from Cas, just as precious. 

Dean answers with his own. 

\---

It’s been a long week. Dean has been out with Sam hunting a nest of vamps and it got a little more physical than he was ready for so he’s aching all over when Cas finds him settled down at the war table. Dean looks up as he approaches and groans.

“That laptop better not have a case on it.” 

Cas comes to sit next to him and puts down the computer, angling it so Dean can see. 

“Seriously man, I just got back. My bruises aren’t even fully formed, let alone patched up--”

“Dean.” 

“Cas.” 

Cas rolls his eyes and clicks a few times on the trackpad, pulling up--yup. Case information. Dean sighs and listens as Cas explains a recent string of murders in a small town. 

“Alright, alright. I get it. We’ll get going in the morning, alright? Just...give me a minute to rest.” 

“Of course, Dean.” Cas spends the next few minutes scrolling through websites, collecting data for their hunt. Dean watches, half paying attention, and gets lost in the soft clicking and tapping of fingers against keys. The gentle sounds begin to drag his mind into the territory of sleep. He is being lulled so gently that he almost doesn’t register it when Cas begins to hum. 

Dean blinks awake and looks curiously over at Cas. He’s still focusing on the case notes in front of him, but there is a distinct flush across Cas’ cheeks and even a tiny smile. 

Cas keeps humming. 

Dean is a simple man, and he lets himself enjoy this simple moment. 

Grounding.

**Author's Note:**

> shhhh don't ask about the timeline on this one shhhh
> 
> edit: 
> 
> Now with [art](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ds2fgiqt5QbLMKT8L1e_J0JpxVXKErFl/view?usp=sharing) by [purtagory jar](https://purgatory-jar.tumblr.com/)


End file.
